Protect our pints

A recent proposal by Cambridge University researchers to serve beer in ⅔ pint measures instead of traditional pints has come under attack from Tim Martin, the chairman of JD Wetherspoon. Martin deemed the proposal of serving “schooners” instead of pints “slightly daft”. He disagrees with the University researchers, led by Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, who propose that smaller serving sizes would reduce alcohol consumption. So, much to students’ relief, it seems that our Spoons pints are safe – for now.

You must play!

Across Cambridge, 10.6 plaques have been put up with rules that instruct viewers to be more playful. Part of the new ‘playlaws’ in Cambridge, the plaques instruct the public to jump in puddles and salute birds. Those who find one of the new plaques can follow a QR code to find out more information about the playlaws and the stories behind them. Included in the collection of plaques are those entitled ‘Wiggle Bottom Park’, ‘Loiter well’, and ‘Jumpers for goalposts’. The final 0.6 plaque will be just over half readable, symbolising how the project was funded by Section 106 developer contributions which were gained by Cambridge City Council in the planning process.

Egg on your race!

The annual Cambridge Town and Gown running event was attended by police on Sunday (6/10) due to teenagers throwing eggs. Participants were running in support of Muscular Dystrophy UK, with the 10k loop starting and ending at Midsummer Common. A spokesperson from Cambridgeshire Police stated “officers patrolled the city centre” during the run. They “spoke to stewards about anti-social behaviour issues and responded to reports of teenagers throwing eggs.” Nonetheless, the event still went ahead eggs-quisitely.

University Challenge challenged

RuPaul’s Drag Race star Kate Butch, the drag persona of Marcus Crabb, took to X to criticise University Challenge for allowing both Oxford and Cambridge to enter multiple teams. Butch described being “almost militant about how I feel that Oxford and Cambridge should not be allowed to enter University Challenge 30 times a year, it’s not called College Challenge is it”. This prompted a fierce debate on X, with some defending the decision, arguing that university teams for Oxford and Cambridge “would be essentially invincible”. But others state that it “isn’t fair to other collegiate universities like Durham.” Host Amol Rajan, who attended Downing College Cambridge and formerly edited Varsity, has not yet addressed the debate.